Former Penn State President Graham Spanier said he would never have ignored accusations of child sex abuse on campus because, among other things, he "personally experienced massive and persistent abuse as a child," according to a letter he sent to the school's board of trustees.
"It is unfathomable and illogical to think that a respected family sociologist and family therapist, someone who personally experienced massive and persistent abuse as a child, someone who devoted a significant portion of his career to the welfare of children and youth... would have knowingly turned a blind eye to any report of child abuse or predatory sexual acts directed at children," Spanier said in the letter - which was dated Sunday and obtained by CNN Tuesday.
While Spanier has not been criminally charged in the case, an investigation by ex-FBI chief Louis Freeh concluded that he helped university officials conceal allegations of sexual abuse against the former assistant football coach.
Spanier disputes these findings in his letter, saying "at no time during my presidency did anyone ever report to me that Jerry Sandusky was observed abusing a child or youth or engaged in a sexual act with a child or youth."
Sandusky was convicted in June of sexually abusing young boys over a 15-year period.
More on the Penn State scandal:
Paterno loyalists: Sanctions excessive
Ex-Penn State pres: I was abused
History books, Paterno's legacy altered?
The actionsof NCAA are ineffect a reaction not a whole kot different than the actions of thosr who did not commit the actual crime but thought more of the program than the victims.
The NCAA does not want gootball overall to get a blackeye and is willing to tarnish the reputations of many fine individuals that gave their all to win or lose contest against other schools
To take away their just due to fame and memories they provided to tens of thousands maybe hundreds of thousands is no more than a publicitystunt and IMHO tarnishes their rights to rule over anything to do with this case and should call into duspect many of their rulings against both individuals and teams.
Many a prima donnafootballteam or alumniinfractions recie e no more thanreprimands until an outside source begins to publish full stories.
What Sandusky did on a day to day basis was "grooming" of everyone around him so they wouldn't his lusting after little boys' tight anuses. He didn't have the empathy to care about the little boy connectedto it. He just wanted to dominate that twitchy warm anus.
Geez, come on. Couldn't you have phrased that with a little more decorum? We all know what Sandusky did. Please spare us the graphic wordplay. Please.
This is NOT ma and pa.
I could not have said it better myself, ma & pa. Oh wait. I DID SAY IT!!!!!! Under your name. of course. My bad.
Sandusky is a pimple on the backside of a mountain of perverts. Squeeze him until he vomits up their names so they, also, can be prosecuted.
This is also NOT ma & pa.
I wrote this one too
This man apprently is as keen to deny responsibility for his actions as Sandusky himself is. Their cowardice is unbelievable.
Oh please ... seriously ... HAVE YOU NO SHAME, SPANIER?!?!? If you had ever gone through anything even remotely related to the abuse that these boys experienced as a result of your conspiracy to cover it up then you would know ... THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS "HORSEPLAY" in a shower with a child. What did you THINK was going on there and, if you were a victim yourself then you should be even more ashamed!!!!! Sorry but you will not get any sympathy from me, you rich White Afrikaner power hungry MONSTER!!!!! Have you no decency, menheer?
Looks like sandusky will be going from Penn State to the State Pen.
wow, did you think of that one all by yourself?
...and so should Spanier. What a crock, abused as a child and that makes his actions OK????
The one thing no one seems to be talking about is how quick the NCAA was to dole out its' justice to Penn State but not to themselves. When the NCAA surrenders ALL profits THEY made from the Penn State victories that no longer exist then we can say justice was served. Until that day the NCAA is still the most hypocritical organization on the planet. Funny how the NCAA makes even the NFL look like amateurs when it comes to profiting from the good AND the bad players, coaches, executives, etc.
The execs of Penn State need to be but in the State Penn.
They are however keeping the library named after Paterno. This will be a reminder to patrons that they need to "Keep Quiet".
Maybe he was but it sure sounds a lot like "Some of my best friends are .....(fill in the blank).'
Hmmm @ banasy, how many times has Philip told us he doesnt hijack user names on here? Yet here he is hijacking ma & pa!
It is a shame this disgusting liar is using this excuse to protect himself.
Don't get me wrong, what they did was wrong, but I don't know all the facts. All I know is this is a harsh penalty for people who had nothing to do with it. It really wont make the victims feel better, so I disagree with all this. The statue came down, and I can see maybe a 1 year ban(even though these people had nothing to do with it). I know it's suppose to be a statement to all other organizations, but this is why people cover things up. $60 million dollar loss, and all that's going to do is ensure people cover it up better out of fear.
Why are the youngsters being punished by having their wins revoked? All the coaches and administrators should be fired and sent to jail. But why punish the children again?
You are an idiot. Shut up.